Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Construction Management

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Urban infrastructure systems present a complex interplay of interconnected domains, each utilizing distinct data formats, hindering seamless data flow and unified information models. To tackle interoperability challenges, Information Delivery Manuals (IDM) and Model View Definitions (MVD) have been developed. However, the complexities in infrastructure systems and their complex interrelations cause challenges in creating urban level IDM/MVDs. IDMs and MVDs are developed within the Building Information Modeling (BIM) domain, that are represented under the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The process of creating MVDs lack a consistent development framework, resulting in heterogeneous and inconsistent definitions of model views.

At infrastructure level, designing, engineering, constructing, and maintaining systems can be challenging, as they involve diverse functionalities that require seamless data exchange and sharing. Unfortunately, this is hindered by a heterogeneous environment that prevents easy data sharing and integration. Although there are data exchange standards for individual infrastructure systems, they mostly cover intrinsic interactions within a single infrastructure, rather than extrinsic interactions between multiple systems.

This dissertation aims to address these issues by facilitating IDM/MVD development and providing a basis for creating a standardized approach for developing IDMs and MVDs at urban scale. The study proposes a framework to semantically modularize infrastructure systems, identify relationships via Design Structure Matrices (DSM), and construct IDMs. An entity-based integration approach is also proposed, allowing for the generation of encapsulated MVD concept modules from integrated libraries. The objective to streamline MVD development by facilitating access to pre-developed concepts and ensuring consistency across domains. And finally, it introduces an ontology-based framework aimed to facilitate urban-level data interoperability by integrating different infrastructure data exchange standards. The framework offers a unified infrastructure information model, enabling representation of urban-scale interactions.

By bridging the gap between different infrastructure systems and promoting compatibility on a citywide level, the suggested framework marks a significant change in urban planning and development. It enables stakeholders to establish innovative links between functions at different levels of organization, leading to more efficient resource usage and greater resilience for smart cities.

Date

4-3-2024

Committee Chair

Yong-Cheol Lee

Available for download on Saturday, April 03, 2027

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